Georgia State Senate District 39
Georgia State Senate District 39 is represented by Sonya Halpern (D).
As of the 2020 Census, Georgia state senators represented an average of 191,523 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 173,707 residents.
About the chamber
Members of the Georgia State Senate serve two-year terms and are not subject to term limits. Georgia legislators assume office the second Monday in January.
Qualifications
Paragraph 3 of Section 2 of Article 3 of the Georgia Constitution states, "At the time of their election, the members of the Senate shall be citizens of the United States, shall be at least 25 years of age, shall have been citizens of this state for at least two years, and shall have been legal residents of the territory embraced within the district from which elected for at least one year."[1]
Salaries
- See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
| State legislative salaries, 2024[2] | |
|---|---|
| Salary | Per diem |
| $24,341.64/year | $247/day |
Vacancies
If there is a vacancy in the Georgia General Assembly, the vacant seat must be filled by a special election. If the vacancy occurs during a legislative session, the governor must declare a special election no later than 10 days after the vacancy happens. If the vacancy occurs after the regular legislative session held during the first year of the term of office for members, the governor may order a special election at any time but no later than 60 days before the November general election. If the vacancy occurs between 60 days before the November general election and the next legislative session, the governor is required to order a special election within 10 days.[3]
The special election must be held no less than 30 days and no later than 60 days after the governor calls for the election. The counties representing the vacant district are responsible for conducting the election.[3]
See sources: Georgia Code § 21-2-544
District map
Redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Georgia
In Georgia, both congressional and state legislative district lines are drawn by the state legislature. A simple majority in each chamber is required to approve redistricting plans, which are subject to veto by the governor.[4]
The Georgia Constitution requires that state legislative districts be contiguous. There are no similar requirements for congressional districts.[4][5]
2020-2023
State legislative maps enacted in 2023
Governor Kemp (R) signed revised legislative maps into law on December 8, 2023. Legislators in the Georgia House of Representatives voted 98-71 to adopt the new state legislative maps on December 5. The Georgia State Senate voted 32-23 to adopt the state legislative maps on December 1. For more information about the enacted legislative maps, click here.[6][7]
On October 26, 2023, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ruled that the state's congressional and legislative district boundaries violated the Voting Rights Act and enjoined the state from using them for future elections.[8] The court directed the Georgia General Assembly to develop new maps by December 8, 2023.[8]
Reactions to 2023 state legislative maps
On December 20, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District decided to uphold the maps enacted on November 30 and found them in compliance with the Voting Rights Act.
The plaintiffs from the October 26 case objected to the maps and asked the court to draw new voting districts in time for the 2024 congressional and legislative elections:[9]
| “ |
"The inescapable conclusion is that the proposed plans do not come close to following the court's order. Putting eyes on the 2023 proposed plans confirms the total failure of compliance. ... The General Assembly's attempt to minimize and zero out minority voting opportunity in a purported 'remedy' to the state's Section 2 violation is precisely the sort of gamesmanship Section 2 was meant to stamp out. ... The General Assembly's purported remedy makes a mockery of that process, the court's ruling and the Voting Rights Act, and reflects the state's continued refusal to afford minority voters equal opportunity to participate in electoral politics."[9][10] |
” |
State Senate maps
Below is the state Senate map in effect before and after the 2020 redistricting cycle. The map on the right was in effect for Georgia’s 2024 state legislative elections.
Georgia State Senate Districts
before 2020 redistricting cycle
Click a district to compare boundaries.
Georgia State Senate Districts
after 2020 redistricting cycle
Click a district to compare boundaries.
State House maps
Below is the state House map in effect before and after the 2020 redistricting cycle. The map on the right was in effect for Georgia’s 2024 state legislative elections.
Georgia State House Districts
before 2020 redistricting cycle
Click a district to compare boundaries.
Georgia State House Districts
after 2020 redistricting cycle
Click a district to compare boundaries.
State legislative maps enacted in 2021
On December 30, 2021, Governor Kemp (R) signed Georgia's Senate and House district maps into law. The state Senate approved its map on November 9, 2021, with a 34-21 vote followed by the state House voting 96-70 in favor on November 15, 2021.[11] The state House approved its map on Nov. 10 with a 99-79 vote followed by the state Senate voting 32-21 in favor on Nov. 12. These maps took effect for Georgia's 2022 state legislative elections.
Below are the maps in effect before and after the 2020 redistricting cycle. The map on the right was in effect for Georgia’s 2024 state legislative elections.
Georgia State Senate District 39
before 2020 redistricting cycle
Click a district to compare boundaries.
Georgia State Senate District 39
after 2020 redistricting cycle
Click a district to compare boundaries.
Elections
2024
See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Georgia State Senate District 39
Incumbent Sonya Halpern won election in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 39 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Sonya Halpern (D) | 100.0 | 77,153 |
| Total votes: 77,153 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 39
Incumbent Sonya Halpern advanced from the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 39 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sonya Halpern | 100.0 | 16,079 |
| Total votes: 16,079 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2022
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Georgia State Senate District 39
Incumbent Sonya Halpern won election in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 39 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sonya Halpern (D) | 100.0 | 60,401 |
| Total votes: 60,401 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 39
Incumbent Sonya Halpern advanced from the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 39 on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sonya Halpern | 100.0 | 21,276 |
| Total votes: 21,276 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2020
Special election
A special Democratic primary election for Georgia State Senate District 39 was called for November 3, 2020. A primary runoff election was scheduled for December 1, 2020. The candidate filing deadline was September 4.[12]
The November 3 special Democratic primary for District 39 was called after incumbent candidate Nikema Williams (D) withdrew from the race after advancing from the regular Democratic primary held on June 9, 2020. She was chosen by the Democratic Party of Georgia to replace incumbent candidate John Lewis (D) on the general election ballot for Georgia's 5th Congressional District race after Lewis' death on July 17, 2020.[13]
Democratic primary runoff election
Special Democratic primary runoff for Georgia State Senate District 39
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sonya Halpern | 80.8 | 4,435 |
 | Linda Pritchett | 19.2 | 1,055 | |
| Total votes: 5,490 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Special Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 39
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sonya Halpern | 45.2 | 31,294 |
| ✔ | | Linda Pritchett | 25.4 | 17,573 |
 | JoAnna Potts | 15.5 | 10,751 | |
| Zan Fort | 13.9 | 9,636 | |
| Total votes: 69,254 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Regular election
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2020
General election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Nikema Williams (D)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 39
Incumbent Nikema Williams defeated Linda Pritchett in the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 39 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Nikema Williams | 76.5 | 28,246 |
| Linda Pritchett | 23.5 | 8,662 | |
| Total votes: 36,908 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Georgia State Senate District 39
Incumbent Nikema Williams won election in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 39 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Nikema Williams (D) | 100.0 | 67,293 |
| Total votes: 67,293 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 39
Incumbent Nikema Williams advanced from the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 39 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Nikema Williams | 100.0 | 16,784 |
| Total votes: 16,784 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2017
A special election for the position of Georgia State Senate District 39 was held on November 7, 2017. Because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, a special runoff election between the top-two candidates was held on December 5, 2017. It featured Democrats Nikema Williams and Linda Pritchett. Nikema Williams (D) won the runoff election with 51 percent of the vote.[14]
The candidate filing deadline was September 15.[15] The candidates who successfully qualified to run were Republican Nick Carlson and Democrats Elijah Tutt, Linda Pritchett, Marckeith DeJesus, and Nikema Williams.
The seat became vacant following Vincent Fort's (D) resignation in August 2017 to run for mayor of Atlanta.
| Georgia State Senate, District 39, Runoff Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Nikema Williams |
51.1% | 11,522 | |
| Democratic | Linda Pritchett | 48.9% | 11,047 | |
| Total Votes | 22,569 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State | ||||
| Georgia State Senate, District 39, Special Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Nikema Williams (advanced to runoff) |
34.8% | 9,208 | |
| Democratic | Linda Pritchett (advanced to runoff) |
31.5% | 8,337 | |
| Republican | Nick Carlson | 14.5% | 3,840 | |
| Democratic | Marckeith DeJesus | 10.9% | 2,883 | |
| Democratic | Elijah Tutt | 8.2% | 2,178 | |
| Total Votes | 26,446 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State | ||||
2016
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the Georgia State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on May 24, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 11, 2016.
Incumbent Vincent Fort ran unopposed in the Georgia State Senate District 39 general election.[16][17]
| Georgia State Senate, District 39 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Vincent Fort Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 67,041 | |
| Total Votes | 67,041 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent Vincent Fort ran unopposed in the Georgia State Senate District 39 Democratic primary.[18][19]
| Georgia State Senate, District 39 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Vincent Fort Incumbent (unopposed) | |
2014
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the Georgia State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014, with a runoff election taking place where necessary on July 22, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 7, 2014. Incumbent Vincent Fort was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Robert W. Tindall was unopposed in the Republican primary. Fort defeated Tindall in the general election.[20][21][22]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Vincent Fort |
83.5% | 38,714 | |
| Republican | Robert Tindall | 16.5% | 7,642 | |
| Total Votes | 46,356 | |||
2012
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2012
Elections for the office of Georgia State Senate consisted of a primary election on July 31, 2012, and a general election on November 6, 2012. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was May 25, 2012. Incumbent Vincent Fort (D) was unopposed in both the general election and Democratic primary.[23][24] A total of $76,660 was raised by 2012 candidates in the district, with Fort raising all $76,660.[25]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Vincent Fort Incumbent |
100% | 60,843 | |
| Total Votes | 60,843 | |||
Campaign contributions
From 2000 to 2024, candidates for Georgia State Senate District 39 raised a total of $1,070,851. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $76,489 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money
| Campaign contributions, Georgia State Senate District 39 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Amount | Candidates | Average |
| 2024 | $90,800 | 1 | $90,800 |
| 2022 | $126,150 | 1 | $126,150 |
| 2018 | $16,033 | 1 | $16,033 |
| 2016 | $143,348 | 1 | $143,348 |
| 2014 | $76,156 | 2 | $38,078 |
| 2012 | $76,660 | 1 | $76,660 |
| 2010 | $313,964 | 2 | $156,982 |
| 2008 | $72,223 | 1 | $72,223 |
| 2006 | $25,839 | 1 | $25,839 |
| 2004 | $49,415 | 1 | $49,415 |
| 2002 | $35,900 | 1 | $35,900 |
| 2000 | $44,363 | 1 | $44,363 |
| Total | $1,070,851 | 14 | $76,489 |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Justia, "Constitution of the State of Georgia," accessed February 10, 2023
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The State of Georgia, "Official Code of Georgia," accessed January 23, 2024 (Statute 21-2-544)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 All About Redistricting, "Georgia," accessed April 23, 2015
- ↑ Georgia Constitution, "Article 3, Section 2," accessed April 23, 2015
- ↑ Georgia General Assembly, "Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office - Proposed Plans," accessed December 11, 2023
- ↑ Twitter, "RedistrictNet," December 7, 2023
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Reuters, "US judge orders new congressional map in Georgia, citing harm to Black voters," October 27,, 2023
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedgpb - ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Georgia General Assembly, "SB 1EX," accessed Nov. 16, 2021
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "SPECIAL DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY ELECTION SET FOR GEORGIA STATE SENATE DISTRICT 39," accessed September 4, 2020
- ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Democrats tap Nikema Williams to replace John Lewis on November ballot," July 20, 2020
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Unofficial Results," accessed December 5, 2017
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedGASOS - ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed August 17, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "General Election results," accessed November 23, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed March 13, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "General primary results," accessed May 24, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official candidate list," accessed March 10, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed May 28, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed November 13, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official 2012 Primary Results," accessed November 16, 2012
- ↑ Georgia Elections Division, "2012 Election Results" accessed November 16, 2012
- ↑ followthemoney.org, "Georgia 2012 Senate Candidates," accessed November 26, 2013
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